Day After Tomorrow
by SnowCrystal
Summary: [AU] [Zelink] Present day 2007 and budding actress Zelda stumbles upon a living relic from the past named Link and is forced to teach him the ways of the future, all the while clumsily dodging his unexpected crush as he mistakes her for his princess.
1. The Hero Of Time Appears!

– Episode 1: A Mysterious Light! The Hero Of Time Appears –

_Together they stood upon an endless stretch of sky that somehow magically supported their human weight. Despite the beautiful scenery that lay beneath them in the form of swirling clouds, there was a sombre air engulfing them. The slender one, the one not laden in a green garb, spoke first._

"_Thank you, Link… Thanks to you, Ganondorf has been sealed inside the Evil Realm! Thus, peace will once again reign in this world… for a time," Princess Zelda said softly._

_She cast her gaze beneath her, as if urging the clouds to speak for her instead._

"_All the tragedy that has befallen Hyrule was my doing… I was so young… I could not comprehend the consequences of trying control the Sacred Realm. I dragged you into it, too. Now it is time for me to make up for my mistakes… You must lay the Master Sword to rest and close the Door of Time…" _

_The one in green, a hero named Link, stared back at her, anticipating her next words. _

"_However, by doing this, the road between times will be closed…"_

_The princess extended her hand towards him, just as she looked up, able to face her decision with full force._

"_Link, give the Ocarina to me… As a Sage, I can return you to your original time with it. _

_A moment of silence passed, as the clouds stirred beneath them, and finally, Link reluctantly handed over the item she spoke of. She laid her hand upon the instrument and paused in order to gather her thoughts and squash her doubts._

"_When peace returns to Hyrule… It will be time for us to say good bye…_

_A smile appeared on her lips. She had to do this. She knew she could. _

_It was all for the best…_

"_Now, go home, Link. Regain your lost time! Home… where you are supposed to be… the way you are supposed to be…"_

_A fleeting look, and then she put her lips to the mouthpiece and a melody began to flow from the ocarina. As the song continued to last, a halo of blue light appeared beneath the hero's feet. He looked around, shocked, panic stricken, and quickly stared back at the princess. _

_Their eyes met. _

"_Thank you, Link. Good bye…"_

_And thus, the hero was whisked away. Away to another time…_

- - -

"Okay… One, two, three… Action! You're live with Zelda Harkinian… Come on… That's your cue…"

A red haired woman, whose hair flowed below the waistline of her jeans, held a video camera to her eye and impatiently waved her hands to get her friend to start speaking. Zelda silently put up a finger to silently say 'One minute' and quickly scanned through her lines. The other red headed girl named Midna, who decided to put her long hair into a ponytail instead shook her head in despair, in which, Zelda, who was the blonde haired woman dressed in an elegant shade of blue, answered with a different raised finger.

Midna replied by sticking her tongue out, and quickly got out of the view of the camera just as Zelda straightened up and tossed her notes to Midna, who quickly caught and threw backwards onto the rest of their props.

"Well, first… I need to get into character…" Zelda muttered to Malon, the girl behind the camera. "So, why did you turn the camera on?"

"Excuses, excuses," Midna said from the left.

"Well, you told me to," Malon answered bluntly. "I thought you wanted to practice?"

"Yeah, but…" Zelda muttered. She turned this way and that, ensuring that the area was empty, before looking straight back at the camera. "Okay, cut… I need a break."

Malon sighed, and lowered the camera from her eye. "This might be why you can never land lead roles, Zel."

"Because you suck, Zel," Midna butted in sarcastically before Zelda could say so herself, giving her a thumbs up.

Zelda lowered her head. She knew full well why. She was a girl who lacked confidence and only had the support of her friends to keep her going, to keep chasing that dream that seemed so far away. "I know, I know… I just need to stop being so nervous in front of the camera…"

"Well, actually, it's getting quite dark," Midna said, looking up at the dark blue sky. "It's probably unnerving to practice in the dark, in an alleyway, away from home. Twilight's coming."

"Well, it's a night scene… I thought it would get me into character…" Zelda answered. "I think-"

Midna stretched. "C'mon, I can tell you're not in the mood. Being a newbie at acting means you lose confidence as soon as you succumb to pressure. Actually, anyone would. You're human, Zelda. We better go home before the drunkards take over."

"We have tried this scene a few times already," Malon said. "I think it's best to get home. You need some rest, Zel – tomorrow's your audition for this part."

"I know, I know, I know! That's why I have to practice this part now! Or else…" Zelda stopped herself before she thought the worst. "Look, 'no giving up' is a phrase I can do with right now."

"Only a fool would keep going when one is at their limit," Midna said. She had already picked Zelda's notes that she had thrown onto the rest of the props behind. Malon looked sadly at Zelda, who looked at the two of them in defeat.

"Fine…" Zelda mumbled, picking up the rest of the props.

"See, good girl!" Midna said cheerfully, patting her shoulder. "What you need is some rest. You're pushing yourself too hard."

Malon led the way back home and whenever she needed to, she would look over her shoulder to chip in to a discussion that the two behind her were having.

"Ruto's already at yours, she says, and Saria and Naburoo are coming as soon as they have finished everything at work. We'll cheer you up and even practice with you first thing in the morning!" Malon said cheerfully, hoping this would cheer her dispirited friend up.

Zelda managed a weak smile in return. "Thank you."

"No prob!" Malon said, waving her hand to dismiss the fact. "What about you, Midna? Got anything else to do at the studio?"

The model shook her head. "Not yet, don't think. If I'm not working, I'm on my rear doing nothing, so what better to do than to help my ol' angst ridden friend practice for an audition she's sure to win."

Midna smirked. She was always the overly sarcastic girl of the group, which contrasted with the quiet and calm Zelda.

They continued for a while with plain light chatter, when Malon suddenly came to a stop just before the Temple of Time.

"'Sup?" Midna said. Being the tallest of the trio, she looked past Malon's shoulder, but saw nothing. "What's going on?"

"…That's weird…" Malon said, whipping her head round to face them. "…I think I see… someone over there… near the graveyard."

Midna rolled her eyes. "Goddesses, must be some ReDeads."

"Could be someone visiting…" Zelda said quietly.

Malon shook her head. "Looks weird…" Then, all of a sudden, she whipped back round, eyes gleaming. "Maybe something's going on? What if we check it out? Wouldn't hurt!"

Midna grinned evilly. "But what if the ReDeads eat you?" She imitated greedy claws claiming a victim, which just so happened to be Zelda in front. Zelda jumped in fright and turned round to see who it was.

Malon laughed, being the idealist she was, she chose not to believe in monsters ready to eat her alive. "C'mon! What if that light gets away?"

Midna stared back at her. "What light?"

"That's what I said was weird before!" Malon said matter-of-factly. "I saw a light over there."

"So, now you say so," Midna said. "I think the ReDeads are setting up lights for Halloween."

But Malon never heard her say so, as she was already half way up the steps, her camera perched upon her shoulder. Midna rolled her eyes at this, and began to ascend the steps too, and beckoned for Zelda to follow, who was transfixed to the spot, as if she spotted a bad omen arising.

They reached Malon soon enough, and she was looking this way and that for an entrance into the Temple of Time. Midna tapped her foot impatiently and glared down at the gravestones below, as if they were causing the odd chilliness in the air.

"So, what are you going to do now, genius?" Midna sarcastically whispered, as she couldn't raise her voice among the dead. The night seemed to strip away her words of sarcasm though, as even the usually strong and sarcastic Midna also seemed to feel the same bad omen that the others were feeling.

"We… go in…?" Zelda answered for Malon into the night air. She didn't feel the need to hide her fear, but she felt a strange kind of curiosity, that hadn't captured her since a while ago, fuelling her determination. She looked at the others in response, but they merely gave blank replies. Shaking her head to dismiss her doubts, she stepped forward and gripped the door handles for support.

She breathed in quickly, as if about to dive underwater, and pushed gently on the door handles. The door groaned as it parted and gave way to the darkness of the temple inside. Foreboding and gloomy, it looked nothing like what the majestic Temple of Time looked in the daylight as the sun painted the stained glass windows onto the marble floor.

Zelda gingerly took a step inside, after a few uncomforting blank looks from the other two, and scanned her surroundings. She looked behind her and saw, to her reassurance, her other two friends had joined her. Midna had a permanent solemn face that easily showed her disliking of Zelda's sudden idea of diving into a sacred building past public showing times, and Malon showed her childish curiosity on her face, again, pointing her camera in every direction she could find.

With renewed assurance, she took several steps forward, the soles of her shoes tapping across the marble floor, and the sounds bounced and echoed across the temple – as if it was muffled in a giant bell.

She knew her destination. She had been here on several occasions; from invited weddings to the funeral of her mother, so she had seen the temple enough times to recognise that something was up.

With her friends marching along behind her, she stepped right through the empty gaping hole that had once housed the Door of Time, and found herself in a new chamber she had never seen before. She looked round in wonder at the seemingly empty room, which had previously been blocked off so well, that she never even knew it existed. However, she was too busy scanning the high ceilings, until Malon's surprised gasp caused her gaze to come crashing down to the floor.

A man lay sprawled out across the floor, unconscious – at least, they hoped he still was.

Rapid footsteps vibrated across the chamber and the three of them had encircled the man, probing and checking if he was still alive. It was general curiosity and fear that fuelled their footsteps; if they had felt more comfortable, they would have steered clear of him altogether, possibly even accepting the fact that he was a mere drunkard on the ground.

Zelda was the first to reach him and quickly bent over him, examining his strange garb.

"Think he's dead?" Malon breathed quietly, finally breaking the silence that had engulfed them for several minutes.

Zelda shook her head, telling herself to believe he wasn't. She didn't want to think the worse, so she crouched down next to him, and hesitantly checked the pulse on his neck.

She couldn't help but see that he seemed to be asleep, a relaxed look on his face as if the cold marble floor was the softest bed he had ever had.

"No," Zelda quickly spat out the word, as it created such relief through her. "…He's sleeping, I think."

"…Really sleeping?" Midna asked, wondering if Zelda was just repeating the words of a mother that couldn't bear to reveal the real truth to a child.

Zelda nodded and quickly pulled back her finger, as if they would be poisoned if they lingered any longer on his neck. He was definitely an odd man – his green garb was dirty with mud and other things that Zelda preferred not to think of and his face was full of tiny little scratches that were slowly healing. She scanned her eyes over his strange outfit and noticed a hilt of a sword and wondered whether he was just dressed for an early Halloween. Although… He did look a bit too old for trick or treating.

"Well, what do we do now?" Midna asked, continuing her streak of successfully injecting realism into the other's brains. "Do we call the ambulance?"

"He's not dead," Zelda repeated, as if the mere thought of someone dead scared her.

"We can't just leave him here…" Malon said, who was crouched down opposite Zelda and currently pointing her camera lens into the young man's sleeping face.

"Maybe he'll wake up and realise that this isn't his room," Midna said, looking around, as she was the only one still standing.

"…Should we take him back to one of our houses?" Malon suggested, looking up at Zelda.

Zelda snapped her gaze from the man to Malon so suddenly that Malon almost jumped. "That's a stupid idea! I don't have time to deal him!"

"Oh come on, Zelda," Midna said. "You just don't want a man in your house since you live on your own. Her house is nearest, so c'mon."

"That's my point!" Zelda snapped. For some odd reason, she was scared of him despite his peaceful looking face. She swallowed this unknown fear as she thought of an excuse to refuse shelter for him. "I have an audition tomorrow afternoon and-"

"We'll practice with you tonight instead tomorrow," Malon said firmly.

Zelda turned her gaze from Midna to Malon and stared at her wildly. She bit her lip. "No! I… can't have this stranger there!"

"We are staying over tonight, remember?" Malon continued.

Zelda shook her head so violently that her long hair whipped her in the face. "I think that's best just to… leave him here. I mean… He doesn't look like he belongs here, right?"

"What are you talking about, Zelda?" Midna asked. "I know he's dressed weird, but-"

"Has my judgment ever been wrong?" Zelda quickly blurted out.

Midna had no answer, but Malon straightened up. "We can't just leave the poor guy here…"

Zelda mimicked Malon and stood up. "But-"

"I think we should take care of him until he wakes up," Midna said firmly.

Zelda looked at the two in astonishment. Malon and Midna rarely agreed on the same idea, and when they did, it was usually a good idea not to fight with their decisions. She took one look back down at the man and looked back up. She had to admit she was afraid of the strange feeling she felt – as if she knew who this man was, but she had never seen anyone like him before, at least, no one she could recall. But that one look at the man seemed to make her ask herself why she was so afraid. Why did she know him? She cursed her human curiosity and slowly, hesitantly nodded at the other two.

"Okay… But he leaves as soon as he recovers," Zelda said.

Midna smiled, before grabbing a firm hold of his boots. "Should we carry him like a stretcher or should I give him piggyback?" Midna asked, examining his grimy boots.

"Piggyback," Zelda quickly said. "It would look suspicious if we carried him like a casualty."

Midna gave a huff as she readjusted the man's arms around her neck. "Oh no and there's nothing suspicious about us. We're just three girls who happened to pick up an unconscious man inside the Temple of Time."

"Now who was it that convinced me to agree to this little plan of nursing a possible drunkard at my house?" Zelda said quietly, walking in front of the others. Midna merely grinned in answer. "We should go before it gets too dark."

And so, they continued on back to Zelda's house, their previous destination before their detour, and it was astonished surprise that greeted the three girls and their guest as soon as they had opened the door.

"Never knew you were so desperate," a woman, Nabooru, with a ponytail as long as Midna's joked. "Choosing to pick up strays in the streets, eh?"

She looked just as exotic as Midna, who was taller and paler looking than the average Hylian, but Nabooru was simply tanned instead. They both shared the fact that they had migrated from nearby countries and had adopted well – Midna being the accomplished model and she being a policewoman.

"S'up," Midna muttered, straining under the weight of the man as she kicked off her shoes.

"…Did his hat just glow?" Saria, the shortest of the group of girls that welcomed them home but obviously the most mature of them, even more than Zelda, who was stubborn and set on her goals. She shared a similar like of the shade of green that the man that Midna had just set down on the couch.

Ruto, the one who had been lounging around instead of greeting the others at the door, suppressed a squeal of delight as she plopped down right next to the man. Her blue hair was a tad shorter than Saria's, who had shoulder length green hair, and she was clad in pyjamas and hugging a cushion as they had entered the room with an extra number.

"What now?" Zelda asked Midna. "Should we wait?"

"So, tell us why you have let a man into a house of girls?" Nabooru said, sitting on the carpet and crossing her legs. "Perhaps you thought we needed a touch of masculinity in Zelda's play?"

"Well," Malon said, finally giving her camera a much-needed rest in its camera case. "We brought him here since he was sleeping in the Temple of Time."

Nabooru pulled a shocked face and stared at her fellow red head. "You kidding? What if he's some kind of… I dunno… God sent from the very Goddesses and you took him out of his resting place? What if he attacks us?"

"Then, you arrest him," Midna said, sitting down and stretching on an empty couch. "After you kick his pretty boy ass, of course."

Zelda, from her standing position in the lounge, looked down at the sleeping man. She had to agree, despite his many scratches and cuts; he did have a handsome face.

"I think we should wake him," Saria finally said, once they had ran out of bad things to say about him.

Zelda agreed by nodding. He didn't look like he wanted to wake up anytime soon, as he snored away peacefully, a slight curve of his lips on his face.

"…Zelda…"

She jumped in fright and stumbled backwards as soon as she heard her very name uttered from his lips. Ruto who was sitting near them looked at him in equal shock.

"W-What the…?" Zelda mumbled to herself. The room had grown silent and her words echoed as much as they had in the Temple of Time. She shook her head at her foolishness and she stood up again, brushing off dirt she believed was on her jeans.

She leaned close enough to him to be able to count the scars on his face, when suddenly a blue light with wings popped out from under his hat and twinkled madly in front of her face. Zelda once again stumbled in shock, but immediately regained her posture so as not to show fright in front of an adversary.

Despite the blue light now circling round her, she noticed the man stirring in his sleep and he slowly raised a gloved hand to rub his eyes. Ruto nearby edged backwards as he slowly opened his eyes and came back to life, as if the puppet master was finally controlling the strings again.

He blinked once; he blinked twice, in order to filter out the sudden light of the room, and rubbed his eyes again. Zelda was transfixed and rooted to the spot, just staring at him as if she was trying to remember a familiar face, and took little notice of the blue light that now zoomed across the room towards Saria.

A yawn from his lips and he finally spoke in a voice that croaked as if he had hardly ever used it before. "…Navi… What is the matter?"

He squinted his eyes at the blue light before fully opening them to reveal his sky blue eyes. He scanned the room with a childish curiosity, mostly lingering on the light bulb, not even taking notice that six girls were staring at him.

"Link!" Navi, the blue light that had shot herself into Zelda's face, quickly zoomed back to this man.

"…Link…" Zelda repeated his name like something she had never heard of before and he finally realised that he wasn't the only one here, as he looked down from the light bulb into her face.

"Princess…" Link murmured, staring up at her face with a strange look that Zelda didn't realise was admiration. "…Zelda."

* * *

A/N: I'm sorry I've been gone so long… And it feels great to write again, I spent the whole day typing the words in my brain and then going through the same words. I know I start but never finish, but seriously, the plot bunny bore a mark into my brain, and kept repeating a phrase in my head, which will be used next chappie, and so I succumbed XD.

Okay, first things first, explanations! The chapter names will be a parody of Japanese animé episode names, since I was actually inspired by my friend who was doing a fanfic and had her chapters called 'episodes'. The theme is time and humans, again, since I love to explore the human character, and because so many things I'm doing are time related (FF8, Pokémon…). It might be a cliché plot though with the time travel and everything XD

The title is named after a film, which you might have seen before, though nothing like that happens here – I just like the title XD. And that's it basically!


	2. Living Fossil!

- Episode 2: Living Fossil! His Name is Link -

"Princess Zelda!"

He leapt up with such sudden energy that Zelda automatically took a few steps back, and watched in amazement as he, in one fluid movement, knelt down at her feet. Taking the stance of a loyal knight, he bowed his head so low that his chin touched his murky tunic and his hand connected to his heart with a loud 'thud'.

"I am honoured to see you again," Link said loudly, as Navi hovered over his head.

Zelda took a few moments to exchange confused looks with the others, before slowly crouching down to his level. He looked up into her face, amazed at such a gesture.

"Um… Look…" Zelda started, nervous at the fact that this man was staring at her so intently. "…I think you've got the wrong person…"

"Milady, I am not mistaken… I recognise your face…" He said quietly. "Your bea-"

Immediately, however, he silenced himself before he could utter out the words he wanted to, as his face flushed a crimson colour, which in turn, caused Zelda to stare at him. Something like a sigh emitted from the side of Link's cap in response to Link's flustered state, and Zelda quickly averted her gaze to the strange blue light that had tried attacking her previously.

"What the hell is this thing…?" Zelda muttered to herself.

Link looked up, apparently recovered, to stare at her in disbelief. This time, he was the one confused.

"What…? This is Navi… You met her before. My battle with Ganondorf? Remember?" When Zelda just gave him a confused look as her response, he looked downcast and desperately tried to think of something to remind her of the life he once lived in with her. "Did you forget? When you sent me back in time? Among the clouds? Did you forget about that? You looked so sad… I… You… said… you wanted to send me back to my original time…"

He said the last few words slowly, almost as if his words were waking him up, before he snapped to his senses, looking down upon himself madly. He sprang to his feet, patting his face, staring at his hands, all the while seemingly to have gone spastic as he examined his body. The metal of his sword and the metal of his shield clanged about as the others just watched him in silent confusion.

"What… are you doing…?" Zelda asked softly, standing up to face him.

Link, once again, suddenly realised what he was doing and stared at her, flabbergasted in horror. "What… What… I am still seventeen! Why am I still in this body? My original time? I am confused! I was not originally this age! I was ten – I am ten…"

Strange, oh so very strange he was! Zelda backed away hesitantly, and gave the girls behind her a worried look. She had doubted the other girls' decisions even way back in the beginning, and now she knew that bad feeling in her gut was right. However, the girls didn't give her confused stares back, but gave her looks of terror as they stood staring at something behind Zelda's back, and Zelda herself turned back round to face Link.

But, she wasn't expecting this.

"Holy motherfucking shitcakes!" Zelda yelped in fright.

She stumbled backwards, landing clumsily on her rear, and she stared up in horror, just as the girls had, at Link before her. His young face had hardened, the scratches on his face seemed more defined, and he had unsheathed his sword, ready for a fight.

Her heart beat frantically. Her bad feeling was right! He wasn't just strange! He was dangerous! Frozen to the spot, she felt unsure of what to do, unsure of whether he was going to kill them all.

"Freeze!"

Zelda's head turned to the sound source, and she watched in amazement, as Nabooru rushed forward, as the others stayed paralysed in fright, and dove under the coffee table that separated the girls from Link, and remerged with her police gun in her hands. Brave and determined to protect her friends, Zelda quickly thanked Nabooru's police status, as she pointed the gun at his chest from her crouched position behind the table.

Link, sensing danger, shuffled several steps back and raised his shield to his heart. This delayed him for a brief moment in his intended attack, and Zelda and the others realised that they were out of immediate danger for now and sprang back to life. Ruto dove for the phone next to her, shakily clutching the cradle it was in, for the moderate support an inanimate object gave, but she froze on the last number of '999', as Saria spoke up, in a loud crystal clear voice.

"Wait!" Saria shouted, trying her best to stay calm. Her voice commanded their thoughts, as they realised that Saria no longer possessed her usual calm and quiet voice. "I think I know what's going on! He's confused – that's all! Let's listen to him!"

Neither Nabooru nor Link lowered their guard, but Zelda nervously decided to follow Saria's plan. She knew Saria wasn't stupid. She could always be trusted to come up with something suitable for the situation. That was it… She could always trust in her friends' actions.

"Link!" Zelda called out loudly. She knew she didn't want to provoke him, and it seemed her voice worked, as in one hesitating moment, he looked over his shield to stare at Zelda.

However, this didn't quite give the effect she wanted, as he immediately sprang forwards. A bullet whirred past him and crashed into the wall behind, just as he left his safe spot, and Zelda hastily ducked down, clutching her head with her arms in fright, when suddenly she felt a large shadow over her. She opened her closed eyes to stare in wonder at the man that now seemingly protected her.

"Princess! Are you alright?" Link said softly back to her, turning his head over his shoulder to look at her.

"W-What…?" She stuttered, her shocked gaze stuck on him.

She couldn't see anything past Link's figure, so she quickly stood up, just in time to see Nabooru lower her gun and Ruto slam the phone down onto the cradle it rested on. A few silent moments passed as the others seemed to finally relax, and Link slowly sheathed his sword and latched his shield onto his back again.

"…What just happened…?" Midna said, collapsing in a heap onto the sofa, pressing her fingers to her temple.

"When Zelda looked back at us…" Saria began, sitting down next to Midna. "Link followed her gaze… He seemed to look at you, and he immediately drew his weapon in self defence."

"And since he's already in a confused state," Zelda continued, causing Link to stare at her. "He was already provoked enough… Well… Are you okay now, Link?"

He shook his head at her, and tiredly, sat down onto the carpet in silence. Zelda took his cue, and sat down beside him.

"What I don't understand is…" Saria said. "Why did Link protect Zelda?"

Malon looked up at the others. She had remained on the carpet since she had stumbled backwards in fright at Link's failed attack. "…M-Maybe he's her knight?"

Midna shook her head fiercely. "Malon, this isn't a fairy tale!"

"But…" Malon stuttered.

"He did say 'princess'," Ruto said, from the opposite sofa. "I did hear him clearly since I was sat so close…"

Nabooru wasn't as friendly to him as the others were, as she stayed in her spot near the coffee table, glaring at him. Even if she had stowed her gun back under the coffee table, she still thought him a threat, and scoffed as she began to speak. "Yeah, a loyal knight who tries to hurt the princess' friends."

"…Friends?" Link repeated shakily, finally speaking as the others spoke about him. "They are your friends?"

Zelda gave him a nod in answer. "Yeah. They don't look threatening…"

"No…" Link turned to Midna. "I have never seen anyone like her before, however. They looked unfamiliar, at first, but now I can see a resemblance…"

The others had stopped talking to watch him speak. They all watched him, silently urging him to carry on speaking.

"Resemblance?" Zelda repeated uncertainly.

"That girl… the one with the strange projectile weapon… looks like Nabooru, the Sage of Spirit… The girl sitting on the floor with red hair… Malon… a girl I met in Lon Lon Ranch, where I met Epona too, my stead… The other girl who speaks softly… my childhood friend… Saria… Also, the Sage of the Forest…" Link said, pointing to each one in turn. He turned to Zelda in the end, just as the two that were left out expected an answer from him. "And you resemble Princess Zelda… The other two, however… I do not recognise them."

The rest were silent at his answer, as if his words had stole their own voices, so Zelda took the initiative and spoke first. "What about Ruto…? And Midna?"

He looked up at the woman sat cross ledged next to a strange yellow contraption. She looked similar to the Zora of the past, but in another way, she looked more Hylian than anything, as her features seemed to have evolved. She had no more fins or anything, but she still had a slight bluish tint to her skin. The other woman, sitting behind the Malon look-a-like, looked like nothing he had seen before. She was slender and pale looking, but the fierce glow in her eyes and hair proved she wasn't a frail woman.

He furrowed his brow and crossed his arms, and looked as if he was in deep thought. "Ruto… She was the Sage of Water… I do not recognise the name 'Midna' though."

"I don't understand him really…" Saria said. "He says we look like people he knows… But the Sages…"

"Didn't we learn about them in History?" Zelda asked. "Before time…"

"There existed a black age, which lasted seven years, where evil ruled…" Saria continued. "But, the stuff's really fuzzy there… There aren't any records and the like…"

"They assumed that people were too occupied in war. Because they were fighting so much, they never took the time to write down their events. Only paintings and carvings can be found from that time," Zelda said. "Out of those pieces, they were able to piece together some kind of dodgy event that occurred-"

"This isn't friggin' History class, you two!" Midna hissed urgently. "Shouldn't we know what exactly happened? You're not answering a goddamn exam paper, for Goddesses' sake!"

In shock, she recoiled a little, so Zelda obviously took a while to recover from Midna's outburst before she continued. "Well, you see…"

"Basically, the Sages existed in a time long ago. They helped the Hero of Time defeat Ganondorf, the King of Evil," Saria said quickly. "You would have known this if you studied History…"

"But…" Ruto started slowly. She clutched the cushion in her hands as if it was her shield from the predicted outbursts that she expected would come her way. "I'm home tutored… I never knew about this…"

"It's high grade stuff," Zelda said. "Considering the shakiness and the lack of sources of that period of time, teachers prefer to teach about the Hero of Winds, since he touched a lot of people's lives, and thus, he caused a big enough impact to get-"

"Records and shite," Midna finished irritably. "Yeah, we learnt this in our compulsory classes in high school. Seriously, there's no point in not teaching this to us anyway…"

"History can be interpreted differently in everyone. The Hero of Time is an important subject from the dawn of time, so they didn't want high school students learning crucial stuff that they didn't really care about anyway. Basically, they didn't want to teach unmotivated children who wouldn't bother with interpreting and piecing together different theories," Zelda said.

All of a sudden, the man next to her spoke up, causing her to turn to him abruptly. "…I hope you understand that I do not understand you… milady," Link said slowly, beside her.

"Zelda is okay," Zelda murmured to him quietly. "I don't really want to be called 'princess' or anything…"

"Zelda…" He repeated it uncertainly, as if it was a foreign language. "Why is that?"

"Well, the royal bloodline died a while back…" Zelda said.

Seeing that Zelda was fast approaching the end of an uncomfortable topic, Saria quickly changed the subject. "So, do we all understand that he's from a different time?" Saria asked, looking at one blank face to another.

Zelda nodded. "He's a living relic. Link… He's the Hero of Time."

"H-Hero?" Link stammered, pointing at himself. "I-I am a hero?"

"That's what we gather," Saria replied.

"Besides, you are one now anyway!" Malon sighed happily. "You looked so gallant, as you protected Zel! You just needed that white horse… And-"

"Epona… is a chestnut-"

"Wait, wait a second…" Nabooru said quickly. She had remained silent throughout the whole conservation, so everyone immediately snapped his or her attention to her. "If he's from the past, like you all think… And you say this past is all shaky… Wouldn't that mean Link would be the best source for a historian? That would mean… If people found out that he was here, right now, in Zelda's house, then the place would be swarming with police. They'll try to reclaim him as a fossil. Don't you think he'll be put under experiments and the like? Think about it… I think it's better that he goes back to his time…"

"I think you're still stingy with him, Nabooru," Ruto said. "I mean… Why can't he stay here-"

"Nabooru does have a point," Midna said. "He's a living fossil, a living relic, people will try to get their hands on him."

"But, if we never knew until we figured it out," Ruto said, shrugging her shoulders. "Maybe if we just dress him up like a normal everyday guy…"

However, the fiendish grin that formed on Ruto's face was quickly extinguished when Zelda spoke her doubts next. "Yes, but he still has to go back to his time," Zelda said. "Besides, none of us know male fashion-"

Midna cleared her throat loudly. "Does me being a model mean anything? I'll ask around, I have plenty guy model friends… I might even get a few clothes."

"Hey, wait," Malon said quickly. She clapped her hands together happily and the girls quirked an eyebrow at the words yet to be spoken. "Sheik! Do you still have his clothes?"

Behind Malon, Midna gave a giant snort of laughter, to which Malon quickly averted her gaze to the ground, her face blushing madly. "It'd be just you to remember that Zelda has a brother! It's been months since he left for that 'trip around the world' thingy."

"Well…" Zelda started nervously. "He'll be back in a few weeks from that trip soon," Malon looked up happily at her words. "But, I don't think he'll be all too happy to know that another guy's wearing his clothes…"

"But, then, won't he be gone by then?" Midna asked. "If you and Saria put your clever little heads together, I'm sure you'll find a solution…"

"Does he have to go?" Ruto whined from the other side of the room.

"Of course, he does," Nabooru said.

"Of course, I mean he can't stay here in Zelda's house forever, right?" Midna said, just as Nabooru finished her sentence.

"But, shouldn't we ask him what he wants?" Saria asked, turning to him.

Finally, once they had fully noticed the subject of their conservation was still in the room, they turned to him to see a confused man sat on the floor in front of them. They looked at him expectantly, and Link stole a hesitant look towards Zelda before he spoke.

"…It would be nice to return to my time…" Link started slowly. Again, another glance towards Zelda. "…But I would not like to intrude on any of your lives… You may find a solution once you are ready. I do not mind how long it takes-"

"Link!" Navi suddenly twinkled and appeared beside him, bobbing up and down frantically. "I do not think we should stay so long here… It is so strange! Do not be so stupidly curious… We know nothing about this time and besides, I know the true reason you want to stay here – you just want to stay with Z-"

It didn't take long for Link to suddenly swipe out his hand, pluck Navi from the air and stuff her into the odd cap he wore, before he nervously laughed and scratched his head. But, Zelda didn't take much notice to Navi's words as she still hearing Link's speech in her head and she quickly remembered why she had gathered her friends for tonight.

She stood up quickly, panicking about. "That's right! I still have to practice! I mean, the audition's tomorrow, we didn't get enough practice before, and then we have to-"

"I require that you remain silent, Zel!" Nabooru said, grinning and standing up to point a fake accusing finger at her.

"But-"

"Don't worry, we'll get the props up and costumes and shite," Midna said. "You get Link into new clothes."

"But…!"

"I could always pick for you, Zelda!" Ruto said, clapping her hands together.

"But!"

Malon immediately cut off Zelda, as she chipped in her say. "I guess that's five against one!"

"Don't be so nervous," Midna said.

"We'll get everything sorted," Nabooru said, thumbing a fist against her chest in reassurance. "Since when have the police failed ya?"

"Well, if such a lazy bum like you on the team-" Midna muttered under the breath.

"Alright, let's go!" Nabooru said, suddenly enthusiastic. "C'mon, Ruto, you're coming with us to the studio."

"Whaaaaaat?" Ruto whined, crossing her arms defiantly. "I thought tonight was going to be relaxation time! Besides, I wanted to help-"

"Everyday is relaxation time for you, Ruto," Midna said. "All you do is sit on your rear all day."

"It's not my fault that papa won't let me go out and find a job…" Ruto retorted.

And it was then that, the girls started to chatter and, somewhat, argue amongst each other about their everyday lives, momentarily forgetting that they still had a problem in their hands.

"…I am thoroughly confused…" Zelda heard Link mutter to himself, as he turned from one bickering girl to the other.

"Ah," Zelda quickly said, clapping her hands to get the attention of the others. "We better do something then! Okay, we'll practice tonight for my performance tomorrow… And then we'll sort out everything for Link after the audition. That okay with everyone?"

A chorus of nods among her friends quickly calmed the panicking nerves rising in her and she smiled happily.

"Okay, we better keep in touch. Our living fossil will remain a secret between us, we'll sort out the stuff for him, carry on with our jobs – classes for Ruto and Saria – so we better text, email or MSN or anything after tonight, so we know what to do for Link the day after tomorrow."

* * *

A/N: OMG. WING UPDATED QUICKLY D: IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD. I'm going to try to finish this in two weeks, because I don't want Year 11 to interfere with writing… So, if it all feels rushed, it means that I've scribbled down my inspiration all in one go. Poke me with a sharp pencil when that happens, XD, but if I don't finish it in two weeks (this is a 20 chapter fic), I'll have to try my best to try and write every Saturday or something… 

Want to take a guess what the phrase I wanted to use was? Yes, it's that string of expletives I made up (shitcakes was a really random word I made up during a MSN convo XD). It's that scene I most wanted to do – the scaring the shit out of Zelda thing and see how they all react. Yesh, I really like to write action scenes XD.

I'd thought I'd give the black age thing a mention – it's a reference to the Medieval period of history, where people were too busy in war to learn and record events. Monks were the only literate people, and I better stop there, before I waffle about History. You can probably tell I'm a history student XD. However, I'm not a drama student like my friend, so anything wrong should be blamed to my lack of knowledge XD.

Disclaimer: Me no own Zelda (sob).

Thanks to **the Princess of the Universe**, **Sakurelle**, **The Mad Joker**, **Lupi Loop**, **Yuleen75**, **harrynginny4eva**, **GoldenTalesGeek**, **hay** and **ZombieDragon** for the reviews!


	3. Improvise!

- Episode 3: Improvise! Her Friends Play Their Part -

Her friends watched in complete silence as Zelda guided a confused, and somewhat mesmerized, Link out of the lounge, and it was only when they heard loud footsteps on the floor above that they dared to discuss the plan that they had concocted in their heads.

To be on the safe side, they discussed things to each other in hushed voices as they made their way to the 'studio', an exercise hall that Zelda had cleared out to form an empty hall with nought but a cupboard of props and a few sofas and had now become an empty hall for her to practice in. Ruto was the one who had affectionately called it a 'studio', as she had seen many in the books she read.

"Okay, kiddies," Midna bellowed across the studio, her voice stretching out among every corner of the hall. The girls who were just running about setting up props momentarily paused to look up at her. "Got our plan all set? Now, how shall we get the ball rolling?"

"Well," Malon said, a finger tapping her chin as the other free hand rubbed the camera lens free of dust. The whole plan had been made up inside her head, and she expressed it later, as the others chipped in their own ideas. "I'm surprised we thought so long about it, but Romeo's the perfect role for Link!"

"I still think Zelda isn't that dumb," Saria said, sitting on the sofa assembling a random jigsaw she had found supporting a random rickety table – they often left their props in the room after practice, being the lazy people they were. "We _were_ 'rivals' back in school before she graduated."

"Because everyone always thought the smartest people in school should always compete against each other, even if they were best friends and didn't think they were rivals themselves," Nabooru said. "Personally, I would have told them to stuff this rivalry crap back up their ass."

"But being the softies they were, they couldn't say 'no' to that 'friendly bit of competition'," Midna added. She was currently smoothing out the long robe she was wearing. "So, of course, she won't complain that we changed the play into 'Romeo and Juliet'."

"Go for the cliché," Saria said. "But, the problem I see is what if Link doesn't know this play…"

"Well, we wing it," Ruto said, fixing a random crown onto her head. There was no need for such a prop in the 'scene' they wanted to do, but Ruto was a fairly vain child, caring a lot about her looks. She had often wished that she looked like the ancient Zora in the textbooks, because she longed for a 'unique, elegant and graceful appearance with flowing fins' but her spirits were quickly deflated when the realistic Midna replied with a sarcastic retort.

"Improvise!" Malon added. She smiled serenely and went behind the camera lens itself and checked the viewing area. "Think we should film it?"

"Well, if we did, it would make for good blackmail," Midna said, smirking. "She's not gonna live this down. And when she says she doesn't need a relationship, we'll sit her down and show her this clip."

"Blackmail," Nabooru repeated, shaking her head.

"Shush! This is all for her own good!" Midna said, nodding her head as if to agree with her own ideas.

Ruto sighed sadly. "She's really oblivious to the fact that such a cute guy likes her. A waste really," She said sadly, plopping down on the sofa next to Saria.

Saria placed the last piece into the puzzle. "Something inside me tells me that Zelda's not so oblivious as she acts. She is our local actress, after all."

The other girls took a while to gather their own thoughts, before they ultimately agreed with Saria's theory.

Truth was, they were exactly right.

Zelda upstairs was impatiently waiting outside the bathroom door, one of her arms full of his dirty clothes, and the other full of Sheik's old clothes. She didn't know if they fit or anything, but she didn't think it would hurt to try. While she mused, she watched as Navi floated around; as if on an invisible see saw in the air, in her own boredom. Navi didn't seem to particularly like Zelda, but nonetheless, Navi still tried some idle chat with her.

"…So, this time… It is very different, is it not?" Navi asked, after a few moments of strained silence.

Zelda nodded. "I guess so. Electricity wasn't around back then, men don't wear tunics anymore, and they don't really carry lots of weapons, y'know?" Zelda said, smiling a little. She had watched in wonder as Link had seemed to pull out millions of things from his Mary-Poppins'-bag style tunic, first placing his sword and shield on top of the toilet seat, then a boomerang, then a bag full of something, another bag, and then she lost count as he continued to pull out more and more stuff. One thing, though… She never found an ocarina on him. Several textboxes she had read all talked about an ocarina, a replica could now found in the Museum of Hyrulean History, which allowed the Hero of Time to travel through time.

"…Say, Navi…" Zelda said, looking up at the blue ball of light. "Did Link possess an ocarina before?"

Navi bobbed up and down, and Zelda assumed she was nodding. "After the aftermath of the battle between Link and Ganondorf, Princess Zelda took the Ocarina of Time to send Link back to his original time – back before everything started. I have no idea what happened between now and then, however… I was… I was going to leave after we returned… Link became such a hero… But, now in this unknown time, I think the best thing to do is to stay by his side."

Zelda nodded throughout Navi's explanation, before finally deciding on a conclusion. "You love him… Don't you? Link?" She asked softly.

Navi froze in midair at her words. She took a while to flit to and fro frantically, before finally slowing to a stop on the ground beside Zelda's feet. Zelda sat down with her and listened to her words.

"I… It would never work out. I know that he loves Princess Zelda…" Navi mumbled softly, her wings drooping sadly. "…I was always jealous of her. Not because she was beautiful, not because she was wise, but because she was Hylian. And now, you… Link surely has a chance now… You are not of royal blood, I saw the foolish happiness in his eyes."

Zelda smiled to herself. "Link… He's-"

Through the corner of her eye, she saw the bathroom door creak open slightly and saw a blue eye appear between the crack. She knew he was listening in, so she immediately stopped talking and turned to the door. Immediately, the blue eye blinked rapidly, and the door snapped shut, just as Zelda stood up to greet the door.

"Here are your clothes," Zelda said to the door.

Instantly, as if her voice commanded it, the door creaked open slightly, a hand emerged from the side to steal the clothes from her outstretched hand, and then it quickly snapped shut once again. Satisfied, Zelda shuffled down into her previous seat next to the resting Navi, and spoke in a hushed voice.

"Link's a nice kid, but I have no intention of ever dating him," She whispered to Navi. "A living relic and an actress who hasn't even made a lead role yet? I doubt it would work out. I'll just let him have his crush, he'll get over it soon, and if the textbooks are true… Then, he's still got the mind of a child since it was only his physical body that grew seven years. It will never work out."

Navi took a while to answer back. "…You resemble Princess Zelda so much… But I have to disagree about the child mind though, because Link… He sometimes acts so much more mature than his naïve nature implies."

Zelda shrugged her shoulders and stared at the ceiling above. "I still think that it will never work out. Besides, I don't need any distractions."

"Zelda-"

"How… do I look?"

At his voice, they both looked over towards the bathroom door to see that Link had re-emerged from within. He looked this way and that at his new clothes, and tugged uncomfortably at the jeans he wore. However, Zelda noticed a problem. Link was a fairly short man for his age, and since Sheik was fairly tall, the clothes looked slightly baggy on him. Still, he was only wearing one of Sheik's old t-shirts and jeans, and they were fairly loose to begin with, it wouldn't be noticed, right?

"Nice enough," Zelda said, standing up and brushing any dirt off her pants. "Did you pull the plug from the bathtub?"

Link looked up at her and blinked. His blond hair clung to his face, since it had just been washed, framing a face full of healing scratches. The dried blood on his face was now gone thankfully, and he didn't look like a warrior off the battlefield, even if he previously was. He looked fairly presentable. "Oh… I do not think so…" Link said slowly.

Zelda sighed and shrugged her shoulders. "It doesn't matter, the next person will clear it out, and I need to go now."

"Go…? Where are you going?" Link asked, ruffling up the damp hair that clung to his face. He probably didn't like it sticking to him.

"Downstairs. I'm supposed to practice now," She answered quickly. "I guess you can come along too… You have nothing else to do…"

Link nodded vigorously and smiled happily. "I have never seen a woman perform before… I think it would be interesting."

Zelda smiled nervously. "Well, I hope I'm good enough…"

"I am sure you are talented, Zelda!" Link said encouragingly. "I-"

Navi quickly floated beside Zelda's head. "I think it is better to go downstairs instead of dawdling here."

"I guess," Zelda mumbled, nodding. "I'll show you where my studio is."

"I am honoured, Zelda!" Link said cheerfully.

- - -

Everything was set. Well, at least, they hoped so. Ruto remained in her pyjamas and sat beside Saria, as they watched Midna and Nabooru play fighting with fake swords. It was just when Midna backed up to the door, as Nabooru dove forward to hit her, when they heard a surprised 'eep!' from behind the door Midna was blocking. They all turned round to see Zelda gingerly push the door open against Midna's weight.

"Sorry!" Midna called, taking a few steps back to allow Zelda to finally come in the room.

"Well, our star has finally arrived!" Nabooru said, smirking, and putting her hands to her hips. "We've been waiting forever!"

"Sorry about that," Zelda said softly.

She walked away from the door to allow Link to enter the room, and he blushed embarrassingly as he was met with random applause.

"Thank you, you are too kind…" Link muttered, scratching the back of his head bashfully.

"Wow! I'm so jealous, Zelda!" Ruto said, sighing happily. Zelda quirked an eyebrow up, to which the others immediately glared at Ruto to shut her up, and she nervously looked to the other side of the room. "Well… Shall we start?"

"Yeah," Zelda nodded, quickly adjusting into a serious mood. "Where are my lines?"

"Here you go," Midna said, immediately tossing a book her way.

Once Zelda had clumsily caught it, she scanned through it, before she frowned. "…Hey… This isn't… 'MacBeth'… I thought I was practising that… This is-"

"A romantic script called 'Romeo and Juliet'!" Malon ended her sentence quickly for her.

"…It's actually a tragedy…" Zelda said.

This caught Malon off guard, but Saria quickly went back to their plan. "Yeah, we couldn't find the script to 'MacBeth', so we'll just improvise, right?" Saria said.

"Yeah, right," Malon chirped.

"…Okay…" Zelda said slowly, sensing something was up. She motioned for Link to sit near Saria, but Nabooru immediately jumped forward and told him to stand. Link was quick to obey, considering he still remembered the bullet that just luckily swished past his ear.

"…Ah, what…?" Link stuttered, as he was steered next to the cupboard and next to Midna, who nodded at him as a greeting, but then quickly hung her arm round his shoulders and crouched down in a huddle.

"Look, kid, we know you like Zelda…" Midna said in a hushed voice as Nabooru quickly went through her lines with Zelda to distract her. Link immediately shook his head furiously, trying his best to hide the blush creeping on his cheeks. "So, just do as we say, 'kay?"

"What…? I do not understand…!" Link spluttered.

"All you have to do… is kiss her, right?" Midna said slowly, as if wouldn't understand at normal speed. "Then, you've expressed your feelings to her."

Immediately, his mouth poured out a million words that stuttered and stumbled over one another, until they made no sense at all. He shook his head again and again, squeezing his eyes shut as if to block his thoughts out. "No… No… No! I cannot do it! I… I…"

"Shush," Midna said calmly, despite his spluttering. Without a chance for thoughts, she patted his shoulder quickly, stood up and quickly shoved him into sight of the camera.

As soon as she saw this, Nabooru quickly blurted out an excuse and shuffled out of the way, and Zelda watched her go, just as Link stumbled forwards. He turned backwards to face Midna, who just smirked at him, and turned back to see Zelda's confused face.

"…Now… I really know something's up…" Zelda said slowly. "So, what's Link's part?"

"M-My part?" Link stuttered, pointing at himself and looking around frantically.

"He's Romeo!" Malon called behind the camera.

Zelda frowned. "Oh, yeah, I know there's definitely something going on. So, who am I now? Juliet? …Okay then, Link! Show me how you can act!"

Link stared at her in fright. "W-What? I do not know what to do…"

"Just as I thought, he doesn't know the play…" Saria said.

Zelda slowly grew irritated. This wasn't some game they were playing! She was serious! She sneaked a panicked glance at the clock and grew even more frantic when she saw it was one o'clock. "Then… What is he doing on the stage?"

Malon stole a worried look at the two on the couch and Nabooru at the sidelines. And then, she remembered what Ruto had said. "Im…pro… vise…" She quickly mouthed to Nabooru.

Nabooru nodded, and quickly turned to Midna to rally on the information, since Malon couldn't see her as Link blocked the way. Midna nodded too, and she jerked her head towards Link and Zelda, and Nabooru quickly understood.

"Now, what's going on…?" Zelda asked, seeing the others nod their heads about.

"Prepare, Princess!" Nabooru bellowed, parading onto the scene and waving her fake sword about. "For all I shall smite your very life in an instance!"

Zelda stared at Nabooru in confusion, before she quickly clicked on. She pursed her lips together and started to get into character. Her gaze turned to the ceiling, as if to pray to the gods, and she place a hand to her heart, as if it was a heavy burden. "Is there no justice? But I shall not surrender to such a foe! I will stand!"

Just as Zelda had turned her back to Link to face Nabooru, Midna immediately jumped forward and shoved her fake sword into his hands. "Look, don't sweat it, it's not 'Romeo and Juliet', we're making up this shit, get on, just be the hero you're supposed to be and don't panic. Now, go, go, go!"

Midna gave a hard push to his back, and he looked backwards to her in a confused state, before he nervously turned back to the camera. He had no idea what it was, but now it was pointing at him. But, he had to listen to what these girls say. He didn't want to ruin Zelda's performance, so he swallowed his doubt now, and gathered up his usual courage.

"Princess!" Link shouted, rushing forward and guarding her with an outstretched hand. "I will protect you!"

"Thank you," Zelda said softly, stepping back. "My knight."

As if her words gave him even more encouragement, he stepped forward and thrust his sword forwards. Nabooru just managed to step out of the way, just before she parried his next strike, and immediately went in for the kill, diving for his midriff. However, she was in no luck, and she stumbled forwards unexpectedly, as Link somersaulted backwards. He saw an opportunity, a chance to give the final blow, and he tapped her head with his sword. Of course, being used to real battles and not fake ones, he mistook his strength, and Nabooru fell face forwards, face planting in the view of the camera and onto the carpet.

"Shit man! Fairy boy hits hard!" Nabooru shouted, into mouthfuls of carpet.

"Goddamit!" Malon shouted behind the camera. "We're frigging live. Stop swearing."

"I don't give a damn if it's goddamn live! That hurt – these stupid ol' foam swords hurt if used. These can be used as lethal weapons!" Nabooru said, sitting up and looking at her discarded one. "I should confiscate these."

"Yeah, you should confiscate those plastic skipping ropes that hurt like hell too!" Ruto added. "I had nothing to do at home, and I found these skipping ropes, they swing really fast in the air, they have this weird sound too when they do that, and then it whipped the back of my legs after I lost my steps, and it hurt a helluva lot and it-"

"We are acting here…" Zelda muttered slowly.

"Oh yeah," Nabooru said, looking up. She quickly crawled out the way of the camera, to mend her sore head, and she quickly swotted her hand at the sight of a stunned Link. "Yeah, ow, I'm defeated, 'kay? I would have whooped yer ass, fairy boy, if it weren't for it being recorded. Don't hit so hard next time!"

"Oh, witness the law abiding policewoman of our team," Midna muttered under her breath, and rolling her eyes.

"Ah… I apologise… I did not mean to…" Link said slowly, still unsure of half of Nabooru's words.

"Link, focus!" Zelda said loudly behind him.

He spun around at the sound of his name and quickly registered he was supposed to be acting. "Ah, of course! Um… What do I do now?"

"Oh yeah, that's right," Zelda said. "…We just improvised… Um… What _do_ we do now?"

The slapping sound behind Zelda was the sound of Midna face palming herself. "You just won a battle… What do you do now? Goddamn figure it out!"

"O-Oh, t-thank you, loyal knight!" Zelda said quickly, adjusting back to her role. "How shall I ever repay your kind deeds to our kingdom?"

"Um…" Link looked away from Zelda to see Midna glaring at him. He nervously smiled and turned back to Zelda. "…A kiss?"

"…What?" Zelda quickly snapped.

"I-I… am not sure myself!" Link said, nervously grinning. He shrugged his shoulders and gave a laugh, albeit a strained one. "Um… Shall we end it here?"

There was a sound of coughing, and Link once again looked back towards Midna. Again, she still had that angry look on her face, and Link felt his act falter, just as he saw Zelda turn back to see what he was staring at. Midna, however, just preoccupied herself with staring at the ceiling.

"What the hell's going on?" Zelda asked. "I'm sure something's going on. So, enlighten me."

"Link, flippin' kiss her or I'll whoop yer ass," Nabooru growled behind him, after a short silence had passed.

"So, that's what's going on!" Zelda said, glaring at one girl after another. "Don't you dare, Link!"

"Wow, look at that cat run out the bag," Midna said. "You might as well do the plan now, Link. The cat's out now."

"…What cat…?" Link said slowly.

"Just get on with it!" Nabooru commanded, shoving Link a few steps forward.

Zelda instantly took a few steps back. "You do it and I'll… hurt you!"

"C'mon, Link," Midna said. "Hurry up. I'm bored already."

"Link, it's your duty as the loyal knight who just saved the princess!" Malon said, all the way from the other side of the room. She was still filming.

"Eh…" Link mumbled.

"Link, show me that you're not some wimp!" Nabooru shouted, apparently as encouragement.

"You're all mean!" Zelda shouted. "Ganging up on me!"

"It's for your own good, Zel!" Ruto said. "Open your eyes! You've got a potential husband right in front of you!"

"Wha…?"

"I knew this would happen…" Saria muttered to herself sadly.

"What…?"

"Link!" Midna shouted.

"Link!" Nabooru, this time.

"…I…"

"Link!" Ruto.

"…Eh…"

"Link…" Zelda said, staring at him.

"Goddammit!" He finally shouted, copying the word that he had heard them saying. "I do not understand what is happening here! Will you all be quiet?"

Instantly, everyone stopped calling his name, and they watched him as he turned back to Zelda. However, she glowered at him, wishing that he wasn't so stupid.

"Link, you… moron," Zelda muttered to him.

"I am sorry… Zelda."

With that, he planted a kiss on her lips.

* * *

A/N: This scene amuses me. You can make some sandwiches with that cheese now, if you wish.

Hmm… Normally, I'd waffle on a bit more, but I was mesmerised by the Howl's Moving Castle music (spot the 'heart's a heavy burden' part XD?), and I'm currently rocking about on my chair… since my stomach hurts. Grr.

And I also gots some new manga 8D. Yesh, it's random info, but the character in 'Elemental Gelade' called Rowen, who's a dear XD, looks, minus the ponytail, and acts exactly like how I imagine Link to be here (and if, like me, you have nothing better to do but to spend hours on end surfing Wikipedia, then you can wiki him, if you want to XD). And the other manga is 'Kill Me, Kiss Me'. I'm trying to build some kind of fame for it, since they're both great but they don't have the fame they deserve! Injustice.

Disclaimer: I wonder why I still put these here? 'Neways, I don't own Zelda. And Shakespeare too! Yeah, I don't own anything here T.T… Except… Zelda's house, probably XD.

Thanks to **GoldenTalesGeek**, **The Mad Joker**, **ZombieDragon**, **Sakurelle**, **hay**, **Yuleen75** and **Delta Major** for the reviews!


	4. Whispers in the Night!

- Episode 4: Whispers in the Night! The Wall Tells Its Secrets -

A heavy silence hung in the hall. Zelda had just frozen, right there, right on the spot. She never even realised she had, until it was too late, and she found her lips touching his, as he gave her a nervous and clumsy kiss.

Of course, she had been foolish – she knew they had a plan cooking up for her, right when she had stepped into that room, it was a thing called intuition, see? Why, oh why, had she agreed to everything?

Such a weak fool.

That was her problem. She lacked confidence. She couldn't speak up. She was scared and she lacked courage.

Well, it looks like Link lacked brains, because it was a bad idea to anger Zelda Harkinian – and angered her, he has.

"Bastard!" She screeched, pushing him away. "How dare you? How dare you be like that? And you all! You're always setting me up with people I don't like! I've had enough! I'll practice on my own!"

She didn't bother to take back her words, nor did she wait for her guilt to swallow her up, as she was already out the door and sprinting up to her room. Her footsteps pounded as loudly as her heart, and when she had finally slammed the door of her room, she could still hear it… beating… ever so fast.

"…Miss Drama Queen's angry," Midna mumbled, looking up at the ceiling.

Saria sighed and got up, stowing her finished puzzle under the sofa in the process. "Well, you should have thought about this when you had such a plan. She always hates it when you set her up with people."

"Well, yeah," Nabooru said, stretching from her seat. "Course. But I know she'll soften up much quicker than she did last time. I can't believe she ignored us for a month back then!"

"She ain't dainty and needy of us, that's for sure," Midna said. "Time to pack up, Mal, we better get some sleep."

"Right," Malon said, nodding.

She quickly got to work on the stand of her video camera as Link watched the others slowly pack away. He had remained silent throughout their work, thinking back on his instinctive impulse of an action that had upset Zelda so much. Navi floated from Saria towards him, but he never acknowledged her presence, and instead, looked down at the floor beneath him, and pleaded silently, asking it to swallow him up.

All of a sudden, someone poked his back. "Give me that sword, please," Saria said. He looked at her in shock; slowly registering she was there. "I think I know what you're thinking. You're upset, aren't you?"

"Saria…?" Link said softly.

"That's right," Saria answered, nodding. "Don't worry about things . Zelda rarely gets angry, and when she does, we give her some space. It'll take a while for her to talk to us again, but it's not your fault, don't blame yourself. I… guess we should be ashamed of ourselves, really. We dragged you into this."

Link shook his head slowly. "…No… I… chose to carry on with your plan…"

"Boo-hoo," Nabooru said, causing Link to turn his head upward to face her. "C'mon, don't be a wimp. We're liable for all this trouble. We'll get through – we've always survived Zelda's hissy fits."

"I…" Link mumbled.

"She'll get over it soon," Saria said. "Zelda doesn't keep grudges."

"But I…" Link said softly.

"Cheer up emo kid," Midna said, hoisting a box on top of the cupboard.

"Give it two weeks, tops," Nabooru said.

Finally, as he finished listening to the girls chatter, Link looked up to face them. "It is amazing… How do you girls know Zelda so well? How do you know how she will react?"

Unexpectedly, all five pairs of eyes were on him, staring as if he was mad, before they finally looked at each other and smiled.

"You're as clueless as Ruto sometimes," Midna said sadly.

"Hey!" Ruto shouted, looking up from a magazine she was just skimming through – which she probably found under the sofa too. The header above the pretty model on the front read 'Hylian Headlines!' in giant, flowery, gold writing, and a little section below it read 'all the best gossip in the one mag you'll ever need!'

"Well, basically put," Malon said. "We've been friends for a long time. Once you get used to someone, you get to know them like you know the back of your hand."

"…My only friend out on the battlefield was Navi…" He touched her wings as she floated by his head. "I sometimes made friends in odd places, but as soon as I get to know their name, I have to leave them because of the journey I was on. I did not have much human contact…"

"Well, now you've met all of us," Malon said happily.

He quickly jerked his head up and nodded. "Ah, yes, that is right."

"You'll get used to soon," Midna said. "No sweat. And besides, now that I think about Zelda's taken a liking to you."

Immediately, a spark lit in his face and a faint smile spread across his face. Navi beside him twinkled silently. "I-Is that so?"

Midna nodded. "Sure, I'd say that Zelda even stayed there in your kiss for about a second longer than usual. But, take my advice, kid, don't get your hopes up. It's best to-"

All of a sudden, a shriek sounded from above, cracking down suddenly and filling the room like the sound of thunder, and Link immediately threw his gaze to the ceiling. It was Zelda! She was in trouble!

Without another thought or word from the others, he too had scurried out of the room like a little mouse, the only thing left of him was the sparkling trail of Navi behind him.

Midna sighed, and crossed her arms in defeat. "…leave her alone…"

- - -

Zelda stared in horror. Oh, the horror of it all. First, her friends had ganged up on her and _forced _her to kiss some random man who apparently popped in from another time, and now this.

Who's dumb idea was it to leave the bath plug in? She growled, staring and backing into the opposite wall so much that if she were a ghost she would have slipped through by now.

It was disgusting.

She had, at first, stepped into her bedroom to cry her heart out, and once she had snapped out of her gloomy disposition, she had decided to wash her tear stained face. She guessed it was her fault for being such a push over – but the past was the past and she really needed to look her best for the audition tomorrow.

Of course… She never expected the bathroom to be in such a tip.

The water in the bath was murky, Link's weapons were strewn all over the place, and if she hadn't grabbed Link's dirty clothes and put them in the washer, they would be all the over the place too.

This was all his fault. That dirty bastard's fault.

While still glowering in her own hate, her head snapped towards a sudden sound. Footsteps were pounding rapidly in the corridor outside and she stared, confused and dazed, wondering whom it could be. She didn't need to wonder long, as the door flung open, crashed into the other side of the wall, causing it to possibly need some repairs to the hinges, and there, in the doorframe, stood a heavily out of breath Link.

"Zelda!" Link said happily, taking a few steps inside. "Are-"

"What are you doing here?" Zelda snapped, glaring at him so much, that she wished she could burn a hole through him like a magnifying glass held to the sun did to paper. "You frigging pervert. It's a good thing I'm not undressed! It's a frigging bathroom! Get out!"

Link, however, was still concerned about her well-being, and Midna's words were still buzzing about in his head. "Zelda, I came to help-"

"Oh, what?" Zelda retorted. This was the reason why the others tended to avoid her when she had a temper. "What did you want to do? Pervert! _Pervert_! PERVERT!"

Link seemed shocked at her words, and recoiled at every insult she threw at him. Even in his other life, he had battled with countless monsters, countless men baying for his blood, but hell hath no fury than an angry woman. "Z-Zelda. I-"

"I? I, what?" Zelda mocked. "What are you going to do now, oh great Hero of Time?"

"Zelda," He took a step forwards. "Stop-"

"Stop? Stop!" Zelda shouted, tears coming to her eyes again as she pointed an angry finger at him. "You started this! No one told you to-"

The girls downstairs were suddenly wondering why the shrill voice that was Zelda's had suddenly been silenced, but it was because, upstairs, Link was keeping a firm finger pressed down on the top of her lip. He seemed to be amazed as such a daring action himself, as he stood for a few moments, in awe of his own finger, before looking down into her eyes.

"Zelda," Link said softly. "I wish to-"

He didn't get to finish that answer, for with one swift movement of her hand, Zelda had slapped his left cheek red. He stumbled backwards, not in pain, but because he was so shocked at such an action. But, Zelda didn't take this chance to get away. Instead, she stood rooted to the spot, and she glared up at the man that stumbled before her.

"…I can't believe you…" Zelda whispered shrilly. Already, her voice seemed to be choking with tears, and her whisper was even more chilling to the bone than her screeches, and her voice got higher and higher as she spoke. "…I can't believe you went through with kissing me. You took that chance, didn't you? All because… I look like some goddamn princess! Some stupid princess of the past! You don't care about me! No, you only kissed me since I looked like her! I can't believe you! I can't believe you! I hate you, Link!"

An eerie moment of silence stretched forever between the two, as Zelda stood in front of Link, who found the floor oh so interesting now, and she felt tears fall one after the other. She felt so used – all because she looked like some woman from his past.

She glared angrily at him. She was angry at the fact that he had acted out of love of another – but more so with herself because she had wondered why she felt so odd…

But, her anger soon disappeared and her face softened, as guilt formed inside of her, and she stared, watching tears fall from the other's blue eyes.

…He was crying.

"Link…" Navi mumbled beside him sadly. The blue ball of light turned from Link to Zelda, lingering her gaze disappointedly at the stunned Zelda, but all she did was continue to stare numbly at Link.

All of a sudden, fresh tears came to her own eyes, and she pushed past Link roughly to rid the sight of him from her mind, but she couldn't, even as she slammed the door of her bedroom shut.

Link stood for a while silently; before he sank down to sit on the carpet floor. He crossed his legs quickly and brushed the tears from his eyes in frustration – angry that he had shown such weakness in front of her. He sighed sadly, and hiccupped a few times, and Navi quickly floated in front of his eyes.

"…Are you alright?" Navi whispered.

He nodded, hiccupped, and smiled weakly. "Yes, yes, I am… fine! I just…" He looked sadly at where Zelda once stood. "I cannot believe I did it. She is angry with me… I wish I had not done it now. I guess, I let my old feelings get the better of me. What should I do, Navi? Oh, what should I do?"

"Well, I do believe an apology would do well," Navi said. "…Perhaps we shall try later? The other girls mentioned how she calms with time."

Link nodded. "…I will… I should do something to pass the time then… Something worthwhile. Something to make her happy!"

He looked round and saw the bathtub he had been soaking in previously, and remembered how disappointed she looked when he had said he hadn't 'pulled the plug'. Spontaneously, he stood up and dipped his hands in the murky water, and groped around for something to 'pull', when at last, he touched a cold chain, and pulled on it slightly. With a satisfying 'pop', he smiled to himself as the water slowly drained away. He coiled the chain around one of the little taps that Zelda had used to produce water, and as he turned to Navi, the weapons that lay on the floor caught his eye.

"…What should I do with those?" Link asked Navi, inclining his head toward the pile of weapons on the floor.

She turned to look at what he was looking at, but no ideas came to her head. "…Best to put them away, I guess."

Link nodded absentmindedly, as he was used to following Navi's advice without question, and picked up the first thing he could get his hands on – his wallet of Rupees. But, he stood there, like a dummy, for a few seconds, looking up and down his body to find a pocket large enough to put his bag in. He couldn't find one, so he just shoved the Rupee wallet down his top, like he often did with his tunic, but it quickly shot down onto the floor again, spilling out a few of gems as it collided with the ground. He sighed and gathered his money up, and realised his new top wasn't going to be as versatile as his tunic was. Zelda had told him not to tuck it under his waistline, and the top wasn't even long enough to tie with his belt, and while it was slightly comfortable, he didn't really like it to be honest.

"Where do I put these away?" Link asked, looking over his shoulder at Navi.

"I am not too sure…" Navi said softly. "Perhaps we should ask the others?"

Link nodded again, looped his sword around him, and tucked anything he could under his belt and carried the rest in his arms. He reappeared in the corridor outside, just in time to see the other girls put their first foot on the first floor landing.

Ruto was the one leading the others, and when she looked up, her gaze immediately fell to the bundle in his arms. She beckoned the others with a hand and ran towards Link in her bare feet.

"Say, say, say!" She said quickly, coming to a stop in front of him. "What's all this junk?"

"My…" He wanted to say 'weapons', but maybe that sounded a bit too strange – not that they didn't already think this about him. "…Possessions."

Nabooru looked at them oddly. "…Half of this shite looks like it should be locked up in some safe…"

"He's the Hero of Time, remember?" Malon said to the others. "So, maybe that's why he has such weird stuff?"

Link nodded slowly, his arms aching from the heaviness of it all. "Um… Yes, but where should I put all this?"

Saria looked up at him. "Zelda didn't tell you about your room, I guess."

Link grew downcast at her name, but Ruto didn't like this look on such a cute face, so she quickly piped up. "We'll show you the place then! Zelda's house is pretty big, you might get lost, and we all have our own bedroom. C'mon, I'll show ya!"

Being the enthusiastic one, she hurried along first, and Link decided to trudge along behind with his heavy load, and the others yawned and sighed back to their own rooms.

"Of course, Zelda's dad was a wealthy man, but probs not as rich as mine, and he left her this house. We all know it like the backs of our hands since we come here so often!" Ruto chattered on, even if Link was only half listening. "Haha, so I wonder which room you'd like… Maybe this one?"

She stopped just before a random door, which actually just looked like all the others down the hall, but she still pointed happily at it, as if it was something special. Link gave a relieved sigh, and proceeded to push open the door with his back, but he lingered as Ruto began to speak again.

"Opposite your door is Zelda's," Ruto said, pointing to it just as Link's heart skipped a beat. "Down on the your side is Malon, me and Saria and the opposite holds Midna and Nabooru. The other rooms are scattered about, and you can probably go in those when Zelda lets ya. Well, anyways, remember, one of these rooms down there is mine, so don't hesitate to knock! Ta ta!"

Ruto cheerily waved goodbye just as Link murmured a quiet 'thank you', and she ran off, skipping happily in her blue pyjamas.

Once she had disappeared into one of the rooms down the corridor, he finally pushed his own door open, his eyes lingering on the door opposite. With a sigh, he dumped his belongings on the floor beside the door, and closed it with a tiny 'click'.

He almost ran to the bed and a final rest from the hardships he had previously endured, but thought better of it, instead, examining his new room carefully. A laptop was neatly placed on a table standing against the east wall, and a harp sat silently on the windowsill. Judging by the way everything was partly dusty and neatly set aside, the room hadn't been used for quite a while, except for a wardrobe that was slightly ajar in the far corner of the room. Several hangers were hung on the open door of the white wardrobe, giving the vision that someone had disturbed the quiet room.

He trod softly on the soft carpet, feeling like he was intruding in someone else's room, and shyly, crawled onto the bed. He relished in the softness of the duvet neatly covering the bed, and stayed there, silently still, for a moment before he suddenly looked up at Navi.

"Zelda…" He mumbled. "She is opposite me. Do you think I should knock on her door?"

Navi shook her head. "I think it is wise to leave it for a few hours. Perhaps preoccupy yourself with making yourself at home?"

Link sighed, and sat up to hug his knees to his chest. "I wonder… how long will I stay here?" Link mused. "…I did not like it at first… But… Then, Zelda… I… I am pathetic… Am I not? All I can do is fight against evil… I have no experience in romance. Despite my own feelings, my lack of human contact… it has stopped me from knowing what I should… I do not know what to do, Navi. I do not know… She reminds me of Princess Zelda, but she is so different in so many ways too… I do not understand… I am pathetic, Navi. I am-"

"Link!" Navi shouted suddenly. Link who had previously been sinking his face into his jeans with every word he spoke, suddenly jerked his head up to face her. "Do not speak such nonsense! Zelda- If you think of her so highly… If you already recognise your feelings…"

"Navi, I do not understand…" Link mumbled.

"Well!" Navi said loudly, all of a sudden, indignantly fluttering her wings. "You should cheer up! Do not dwell on something meaningless! Gather up your courage and do not be as pathetic as you describe! If you just mope around, sulking, I am sure you really will become pathetic!"

Link stared up at her in shock. "Navi! …I…" He looked down sadly at the white duvet, and paused for a long time, before he finally looked up at the white ceiling above. "…Perhaps you are right… Perhaps I should think positively. Even if I do not know if Zelda likes me back, I can try! I will not give up hope! I will try! That is what gave me courage in the past!"

He flung himself backwards onto the bed, revelling in his self-jubilation, and started to hatch a plan in his head as to how to say something to her. However, in his short silence, he noticed some murmuring in the room next to him. If Ruto was correct, the room next to him was where Malon slept, but he could definitely pick out more than one voice in there. He scrambled off his bed quickly, and pressed his ear against the wall.

"…Zelda, I'm kinda tired, can I go back to my room now?" a voice that sounded like the girl that had guided him here, Ruto, said.

"Nuh-uh," Zelda said softly. Link pressed his ear harder into the wall to hear her quiet voice. "I still need to talk about your 'plan' that happened this night. You always do this to me…"

"Well," Malon said. "It's for your own good, Zel. We've never seen you date anyone – ever! Not even back in high school or something. We always say we do this for your own good – and it's true. You need to find someone you like soon."

Midna sighed. "I'm surprised you talked to us so fast – you usually stay mad for days. Growing soft, eh?"

There was a little pause. "No, it's just that – I really need to get this point across. Link is not some ordinary guy. I know he has that crush on me," Link squeaked to himself. "And I think it's not good if you keep picking at it."

"…I told you she's not oblivious as she acts," Saria said quietly.

"…That's right," Zelda said. "Don't worry, if I _have _to date someone, I'll find him on my own. For now, I want to stay focused on my career."

Midna sighed once again. "Look, you haven't dated for something like ten or so years. You've probably not even kissed anyone once."

"Yeah I know – that's why I'm pissed off that Link got my first kiss," Zelda said to her, in a somewhat stern voice, and Link felt his cheeks rise in colour.

Nabooru gave a quick laugh. "Soz about that then, Zelda! We didn't even know!"

It was Zelda's turn to sigh sadly. "Yeah, never mind, what's done is done. We better get some sleep now… It's already two."

There was a hushed chatter between them and the door kept opening and closing, before finally the door closed for the final time, and Malon yawned loudly. He stepped away from the west wall and looked up at Navi, who just idly floated around.

He sighed. "I wonder if…"

He trailed off sadly and went to sit on his bed to think, wondering if he should act out his plan now, but just as he made to move off his bed, he heard soft mumbling from the door opposite and then suddenly, Nabooru raised her voice.

"Zelda, stop practicing at night, goddamit!" Nabooru shouted, probably from her own room since it was muffled. "Get some sleep – ya need it!"

"But-!" Zelda shouted back from her own room.

"No buts!" Nabooru said back in a loud voice. "Get yer ass on that bed and get some goddamn sleep, you said it was two!"

"Well, I need some practice, since you all-"

"Shut the fuck up, both of you," came a bored voice – which belonged to Midna – from the room sandwiched between the two.

Finally, when no sound came from the rest of the rooms, except the snores of some of the girls, Link seized his chance. He sprang from his bed and tiptoed gently on the soft carpet, which thankfully muffled his steps even more.

He stood, transfixed, at Zelda's door for an eternity, before he felt sure of himself to be able to open her door. It swung open easily, as if welcoming his presence, but he still felt uneasy about going in.

He breathed in, exactly like Zelda when she's nervous, and closed the door behind him softly. He looked round for a brief moment, expecting Navi to pop out, but realised she had stayed behind in the room.

Each little step he took seemed to give him strength, and he looked round curiously to see a neatly tidied room before his eyes finally saw a four-poster bed. He stopped and crouched down by the left side of it, the side where Zelda was currently facing, and propped his elbows onto the side of the bed. He paused for a moment, gathering up the words inside his mind, and laid his head onto his elbows.

"…Zelda," Link murmured quietly. Despite the low whisper he was talking in, his voice seemed to spread out through the entire room, but he didn't care. He didn't care that his words were fairly loud. He just wanted her to hear his words. He wanted her to hear him out. "You have good friends. They care a lot for you. And they seem to know how you feel…"

He sighed and shuffled around, trying to get a comfortable position, and finally decided to plop down cross-legged onto the floor. "Perhaps I should not have been so willing. But… You looked so much like her… Princess Zelda – I have had feelings for her since I was little – and when I found out you were not of royal blood…" He paused and stopped for a long time – so long in fact, that he feared he had lost his nerve. He swallowed and continued despite his nervousness. "…I thought I had a chance… I guess I was attracted to someone else. Now that I think about it… You seem a lot different. Princess Zelda is not you and you are not her. I guess… I am sorry, Zelda. I did not mean to hurt your feelings. I will… I will try to get rid of my feelings for you – if they trouble you so."

With the rest of his speech done, he stood up and proceeded to walk to the door. However, he stopped as his hand brushed the doorknob, and he raised his head when he suddenly remembered something. He quickly turned his head back to Zelda and said, just loud enough to be heard. "Good luck on your audition too. I know you have worked hard for it."

With a smile lingering on his lips, he pushed the door open and stepped outside.

When the door finally clicked shut, it was to herself that she gave an unconscious smile.

* * *

A/N: Emo!Link is a pain to write – added to the fact that I made him speak in a 'posh' accent (accents are great 8D), so I took several pauses and I stumbled upon an Ocarina of Time Orchestra Soundtrack! I think it's relaxing, and besides, violins are for the win. 

…I can't think of what else to write here – my brain isn't functioning and I keep yawning…

Disclaimer: If I owned Zelda, I would own an orchestra too, and yeah, I don't have one. Heck, even the violin I play isn't mine.

Thanks to **The Mad Joker**, **LethalDuckie**, **ZombieDragon**, **harrynginny4eva**, **hay**, **GoldenTalesGeek**, **Sakurelle** and **Oujou no Kaze** for the reviews!


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